


Nazhmorhathverain rodraa zeustumoran

by ExtraPenguin



Category: The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Genre: Dubious Consent, Gen, Kidnapping, Linguistics, Nazhmorhathveras, conlang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-20 20:06:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6023032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraPenguin/pseuds/ExtraPenguin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eris Akheda, a philologist from Cetho, goes to the Evressai steppes to study the language of the Nazhmorhathveras.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fethu diruha.

**Author's Note:**

> _I will learn the language of the Nazhmorhathveras_
> 
>  
> 
> (Join me on the chatroom: http://www.slashnet.org/webclient/thegoblinemperor )

Eris Akheda, 150 centimeters short and very slight, opened his mail. His ears shot up and an infectious grin blossomed onto his wide mouth as he read the very first letter. Money for a trip to study the language of the Nazhmorhathveras!

He bounced off to his pen and inkwell and composed an effusively thankful reply to the Marquess Lanthevel, large eyes gleaming. Then, he packed for his journey: a change of clothes, ten pencils, and five notebooks. He set off from Cetho to the North.

 

In the Northern village of Rado, Eris was enthusiastically knocking on peoples' doors in the hope that someone would answer. So far, no-one had, but hopefully Eris would find himself a guide to any nearby barbarian tribes. If all else failed, he'd just have to find some barbarians himself.

He knocked on the last door of the village. No answer. He waited, knocked again, and then decided to walk to the next village. It was further North, so he might have better chances of finding a speaker of the barbarian tongues there.

After five minutes of walking, Eris spotted a tall person coming the other way. He or she was perhaps two meters tall, muscular, and clearly had some barbarian ancestry, based on the blue-tinged black hair and bluish white skin. Eris' ears perked up. A source for barbarian words! He strode towards the barbarian excitedly.

The barbarian took one look at Eris. Before Eris could open his mouth to speak, he had been slung, book-filled rucksack and all, over a muscular shoulder by the woman. She strode off the path. After perhaps two hundred meters, he was deposited onto the ground. He couldn't see the path. He did not have much time to look around before the barbarian woman tossed him onto the forequarters of a mud-colored horse. She vaulted onto the saddle behind him, and the horse took off in a trot.

Eris and his rucksack bounced uncomfortably with each step the horse took. He lasted less than a minute before he whimpered.

The barbarian halted the horse and pulled him into her lap, then continued. The horse's trot was still bouncy, but sitting side-saddle between the woman's arms was significantly less daunting.

 

Soon, they passed a few small hills, and came upon a small campsite that held another horse, this one a slightly yellower brown, and another barbarian.

Eris' captor brought her horse to a halt, dismounted, and lifted Eris down.

“Dradhan morhaan kairei!” the other barbarian said. “Ruhati zhuna _fethu_?” This one was perhaps a bit shorter than Eris' captor, though every bit as muscular. The greatest difference was in eye color: Eris' captor's eyes were a metallic blue, the other one's a coppery shade.

“Ruha”, Eris' captor said.

Eris pulled out his notebook and pencil, then transcribed what had been said. The barbarians looked at him bemusedly.

Eris' captor pointed at herself. “Veifas Thohrasta Sout.”

Eris wrote it down and repeated it.

“Trathu Rozzesta Sout”, the other barbarian said. Again, Eris repeated it.

Eris pointed at himself. “Eris Akheda”, he said as clearly as he could with his smile.

“Heris Haheda?” Trathu asked.

“ _Eris Akheda_ ”, Eris said, enunciating even more clearly.

“Feris Faheda”, Veifas declared. “Dirukat, Ferenma”, she said, jerking her head towards the tent. Eris scribbled that down, too, along with context, and followed. Trathu began taking care of Veifas' horse.

The inside of the animal-hide tent was dark. Eris held on to his notebook and pencil so as not to lose them to the gloom.

“Trithmokat nazozaita”, Veifas said. She tugged at Eris' traveling robe, then mimed pulling something over her head. Eris wrote it all down, then took off his over-robe. Veifas gestured for him to continue, so he removed his boots, shirt, and trousers. At a glance from Veifas, he removed his underclothes as well.

Veifas picked him (and the notebook and pencil he was clutching on to) up and set him down on a soft mat-like thing that was probably used for sleeping. She stroked his naked body in a vaguely appraising way. Eris tried pointing at her body parts – a shoulder, the neck, an ear – in turn and saying “what this” in the hopes that she might catch on and provide him with more words.

After a moment, Veifas reached over and plucked a rope from behind a bag of grain. Eris pointed at it and said “What is that?” in clearly enunciated Ethuveraz.

Veifas payed his words no heed, gently pulled Eris' note-taking implements from his resisting hands, and tied his hands together. Eris wriggled his wrists a bit, figured that he could still write, and tried to reach for his pencil. Veifas smiled and swatted his hands away. She tied up his feet at the ankles, then bodily moved him so that he was lying supine on the mat.

“What?” Eris tried.

Veifas put a finger on his lips. “Zhhhh, Ferenkavo”, she said. Eris guessed this to be a shushing noise, and wished he could write down his observation.

Veifas disrobed until she was as naked as Eris. She positioned herself so that Eris was between her legs.

So far, Eris had not found the proceedings arousing, but he reacted involuntarily to Veifas stroking his cock. As soon as he was fully erect, Veifas lowered herself onto him.

Coitus being what it was, Eris found Veifas' motions above him vaguely pleasing, but he wanted nothing more than to go back to asking her about vocabulary. Perhaps she would even be more willing after an orgasm.

Veifas began rubbing herself with one hand, which caused her to tighten around Eris seemingly randomly. Her breathing became choppy.

Eris was not at all prepared for Veifas reaching for his neck with her other hand. He was even less prepared for her to exert pressure on his trachea. Had barbarians not heard that choking could be lethal? Eris panicked and tried to squirm. Veifas' bulk kept him in place.

Veifas released the pressure. Eris gulped down air, feeling the hand still on his throat hot like a brand. She was absent-mindedly caressing his neck as she began keening, hopefully near release already so that he could go back to his philological studies.

Her fingers began jerking around Eris' neck. Her cries grew in volume until at last she reached her climax, spasming hard around Eris' member, her hand pressed hard on Eris' trachea, and he reached a climaxof his own he had not been aware of approaching.

There were black spots in his vision when Veifas released the pressure on his neck. She climbed off him, wiped herself with a rag, tossed the rag to Eris, and put on her clothes. Eris cautiously dabbed the worst off his member. Hands and ankles still tied, he grabbed his notebook and pencil.

Veifas sat down next to him. She'd put on all of her clothes on, save the short traveling coat. She slung an arm around him.

“Karzas Ferenkama”, she said. It sounded like an endearment.

Eris had heard her refer to him as something that sounded like Ferenkama before and he guessed it to be an endearment based on his given name, so he latched on to the modifier. “Karzas?” he asked.

Veifas held her hands far apart and said, “Mappus.” She brought her hands close together and said, “Karzas.”

Eris wrote down _mappus = large, karzas = small_ somewhat awkwardly, since his hands were still bound. He then held his hands close to the ground and tried, “Karzas?”

Veifas tilted her head. She held a hand close to the ground and said, “Thaudras.” Then she lifted her hand high and said, “Sauttas.” Eris scribbled down the two new words next to “short” and “tall”, then added a note on adjectives ending in an _s_.

He pointed at the mat. “What is that?” he asked. He hoped the meaning was clear enough.

“Krafa”, Veifas said. “Zhuna krafa ruha.” Eris enthusiastically wrote both the word and the example sentence. Then, Veifas adopted a light tone and an awestruck expression, as if miming Eris, and pointed nowhere in particular and said, “Vo zhuna ruha? Vo zhuna ruha?” She plucked Eris' shirt from the ground and said, “Vo zoma ruha?”

Eris wrote it all down, then picked up his shirt. “Vo zoma ruha?” he asked.

“Zhuna munivu ruha”, Veifas said.

Eris wrote down that _vo_ seemed to correspond to _what_ , _zoma_ and _zhuna_ had a similar distinction to _this_ and _that_ , and _ruha_ seemed to mean _is_.

Some questions later, Eris had a vocabulary of about twenty words. Veifas seemed to bore of the activity, and untied Eris. She went outside and left him to put his clothes back on.

Reclothed and armed with words and some grammar, Eris bounced out of the tent and into the bright daylight. He glanced around and spied Trathu by the horses.

“Vo zhuna ruha?” he asked Trathu, pointing at the horses.

Trathu raised an eyebrow. “Nakotti ‘Voi zhuni rui’?” Trathu sighed. “Zhunu sarkau ruu.”

Eris scribbled down the sentences with a note on the two plurals exhibited. “Zhuna sarkai karzas ruha?” he asked and pointed at the smallest horse.

Trathu acquired a pained expression. “Zhuna sarka _sauttas_ ruha.”

Eris wrote down a note on horses being short rather than small.

Trathu grew thoughtful for a moment, then bent and drew a horse on the ground. “Sarka.” They drew another. “Sarkau.” Then, a third. “Sarkai.”

Eris scribbled a note on the dual, then drew a fourth horse. “Sarkai?” he tried.

“Sarkai”, Trathu confirmed.

“Sauttas sarka, sauttas sarkau, sauttas sarkai?” Eris tried.

“Sauttas sarka, sautta _su_ sarkau, sautta _si_ sarkai”, Trathu said.

 _Adjectives agree in declination with their nouns_ , Eris wrote. He then pointed at his eyes, then at the closer horse. “Sarka...” he said. He mimed gazing intently.

“Sarkaa drarot?” Trathu tried. “Sarkaa draron? Sarkaa draromi?”

Eris pointed at himself.

Trathu pointed at him, then at the horse. “Sarkaa drarot.” They made a gesture encompassing both horses. “Sarkahau drarot.” They pointed at themself. “Sarkaa draron.” Again, both horses. “Sarkahau draron.” They made a gesture encompassing both Trathu and Eris. “Sarkaa draromu.” Then, with both horses: “Sarkahau draromu.”

Eris enthusiastically scribbled it all down. He'd uncovered verbal conjugation! He'd discovered the singular and dual accusative!

He pointed at the drawing of four horses on the ground. “Sarkah _ai_ draron?” he tried.

“Sarkahai drarot”, Trathu agreed. They went to do something with the horses' water buckets and left Eris trying to analyze his data. He drew a table for verbal conjugation from the two verbs he'd heard used:

_draron_ | _draromu_ | _?_  
---|---|---  
_drarot_ | _?_ | _?_  
_ruha_ | _ruu_ | _rui_  
→  
_draron_ | _draromu_ | _draromi?_  
_drarot_ | _drarotu?_ | _draroti?_  
_draroha?_ | _drarou?_ | _draroi?_  
  
Eris resolved to try out his third-person forms with Veifas. A quick look around revealed her to be looking through Eris' rucksack.

“Veifas!” he shouted and ran over.

“Veifas _o_ ”, she corrected him, exasperated. “Feriso, vo mui?”

Eris noted the -o ending for later. “Sarka draroha morhatha?” he tried.

“Sarka morhatha draroha”, Veifas agreed. “Feriso, vo porrut?”

“Sarkau morhatha drarou?” Eris said. “Sarkai morhatha draroi?”

“Sarkau morhatha drarou ro sarkai morhatha draroi. Feriso, vo? Voon?”

Eris grinned at his guesses being proven correct. “Voon?” he asked.

Veifas rolled her eyes and sighed. “Hus, Feriso.” She made shooing gestures.


	2. Fethu zeustuha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Eris knows, you should be able to see on mouseover.

Eris got nothing further from Veifas or Trathu that evening. As dusk neared, the barbarians seemed to grow more restless, and conferred amongst each other in hushed voices from which Eris couldn't make out the words.

At nightfall, a barbarian man rode in on a horse the color of arterial blood, three other horses in tow. One was brown and black in the typical equine arrangement, another was gray, and the third was a uniform dark brown. Trathu took the four horses and tied them up loosely, like the two horses already present.

“Kraitho, zossa fethuma, Feris”, Veifas said.

“ _Eris Akheda_ ”, Eris corrected her.

Veifas cuffed him. “Moun Feris-fethu”, she said.

“Ruhati zha trotas?” the man asked.

Veifas smirked. “Ruha. Krathdusakat zhaa!”

“Krathdusamoran”, the man agreed. “Mo Kraith run, fethuvo. Dirukat!” Kraith grabbed Eris' hair and dragged him painfully to the tent. Eris, stumbling, still held on to his notebook and pencil, and sang the universal song of “ouch” the whole way to the tentflap.

“Trithmokat nazozaita”, Kraith ordered him when he'd pushed Eris in.

Eris set his notebook and pencil in a neat pile, then stripped. When he was done, he turned. Kraith was sitting cross-legged on the krafa, a small ceramic bowl-like container in his hand. He gestured for Eris to come closer.

After some prodding, Eris sat on Kraith's lap. Kraith dipped his fingers in the container, and they came out covered in some sort of probably animal-based grease.

“Vo zhuna ruha?” Eris asked. He was ignored.

Kraith reached between Eris' legs and poked his fingers first at and then into Eris' anus. It was an unexpected sensation and somewhat unpleasant.

Kraith moved around his fingers inside Eris, as if trying to stretch him. It felt odd and stung a bit.

After a while, Kraith seemed satisfied and extracted his fingers from Eris. He then reached back to the container, re-slicked his fingers, and applied the grease onto his cock. Kraith then lifted Eris up and lowered him down onto his cock.

The sensation was that of an unpleasant stretch. Eris did his best to relax, noting that that made the feeling less unpleasant.

Kraith grabbed Eris' hips and bodily moved him up and down with ease. It felt less painful when Eris relaxed himself and surrendered to the motion. Occasionally he'd feel a brush of something pleasurable.

Eventually Kraith reached his climax. He pulled Eris down and keened.

Kraith pulled Eris off of him, tossed on his clothes, and left Eris dazed.

Eris put on his clothes again, then contemplated the language. Kraith hadn't taught him any new words, but he'd probably be able to extract an imperative from what he'd been given.

  


The next morning, the barbarians packed up the tent, saddled their horses, and got going. Eris was again in Veifas' lap, and Trathu had the three riderless horses tied in a line onto her saddle.

The barbarians seemed to know their way, and after a few hours of riding over a seemingly eternal sea of grass, they arrived at an encampment, with around fifteen large tents and a large amount of horses and cattle grazing nearby. The group was greeted by a crowd of barbarians.

“Hemoo!” Veifas called out. “Korraa moihir zhirkorakan!”

“Koukkavoma, vosta fathhaureha zhirkoraghat?” a middle-aged barbarian woman called back. She was walking over.

“Muirsaraka vokkaas”, Veifas answered. She lifted Eris down into the woman's waiting arms, then hopped off her horse. A group of barbarians that included Trathu grabbed the horses and let Veifas and Kraith follow the woman carrying Eris.

The woman gave Eris a small shake. “Naiku karzas”, she said.

“Vaurikkadheth”, Veifas said.

The woman snorted. “Vaurin du tropan.”

Veifas rolled her eyes.

They entered one of the tents. It was larger than the traveling tent, and had many mats piled up on top of each other. There was a small stove in the center, with a chimney pipe that went up at an angle towards its hole in the ceiling. There was one wooden cupboard-type thing along a wall, next to which hung what appeared to be skins of animals, filled with some liquid. The unnamed woman knocked the bags as she went by.

“Previs”, she told Eris. She set him down.

“Vo rut?” Eris asked the woman.

“She cuffed him on the cheek. The face of the earth met with his.

“ _Hemoo_ ”, Veifas said. To Eris, she said, “ _Ku_.”

Eris sat up and smiled charmingly. “Ku rut?” he asked.

“Thohra Zokusta Sout run”, she said. She turned to Veifas expectantly.

Veifas grazed her hand over her stomach. “Run.”

Thohra smiled. “Trottasir druitau. Hevet?”

“Hevet”, Veifas agreed.

Thohra pressed Eris into service making food. It was a soup of steppe vegetables and mushrooms, served with yoghurt. Eris got the sense that they were celebrating something. They ate off mismatched bone cups, Eris slightly to the side. He tried to transcribe the idle chatter as best he could, though he knew he was missing things.

  


Eris slept on a stack of krafai and woke at dawn. He wrapped his traveling cloak around him and went outdoors to brave the morning chill, writing implements in hand as always. The sky was orange with a light dusting of purple-blue clouds. The dawn star could be seen to the North.

Eris heard clinking sounds from within the tent, and soon enough, Veifas emerged. She, too, was wrapped for the morning chill of spring.

Eris pointed at the sun. “Vo zhuna ruha?” he asked.

“Vauma”, Veifas replied. “Sa Dreir. Dreir Dradhan morhaan ruhi dampakor muirsaa.”

“Morhath?” Eris asked, hoping he'd recognised the word correctly.

“Morhath. Drata morhaan ro saghen ruitha ruha. Zha Dreira ru morhaara rantaa.”

Eris guessed this to be something to do with the local mythology or weather. He transcribed the conversation with the note added.

Footsteps on the grass. Eris looked up to see an albino woman, as tall as the other barbarians but not nearly as muscular, walk towards them.

“Fethuta fuikos ruha, Veifaso”, the witch commented.

Eris smiled. “Ku rut?” he asked.

The witch snorted. “Ro rodrat tozhaa. Mo Retkaire Soun run.”

“Mo Eris Akheda run”, Eris said. He noted the different name-format down.

“Eris Aheda. Naiku fethuntaure.” Retkaire turned to Veifas. “Refpaana rut?” she asked.

“Run”, Veifas agreed. “Keivat?”

“Keivat”, Retkaire agreed.

Veifas hustled Retkaire and Eris into the tent. She'd begun boiling water on the stove in what might have been a primitive teapot. Eris' guess was confirmed when she poured Retkaire tea. (Eris had to pour his himself.)

“Vo zoma ruha?” he asked and pointed at the tea.

“Keipa”, Veifas said.

Having heard of a witch who'd named himself after the night-hunting cat of the steppes, he asked, “Vo ‘retkaire’ ruha?” He smiled sweetly.

Retkaire set down her cup, beckoned him to follow, and then opened the door. She pointed at the dawn star, barely visible in the sun. “Retkaire”, she said. “Redhin kaire.”

The dawn star. Stars. “Kaire. Cairei?” he asked. “Nazhmorhathkairei?”

“Kairei”, Retkaire confirmed.

Eris smiled. Words! A word obviously related to the Ethuverazin one! “Ro Cstheio Caireizhasan?” he asked.

“Kesteiho?” Retkaire scrunched her brows. “ _Keseifo_ kuraan ro teiradhun ruitha ruha. _Drata_ morhaan ro saghen ruitha ruha. ”

Eris eagerly wrote all of it down. He'd guess that _ruitha_ meant goddess or perhaps deity; he hadn't come across gendered nouns yet.

  


Some months later, it was late summer and Veifas' stomach had begun to round. Kraith was on another raiding trip with others of Sou clan.

“Fethui soumehama kattaraki”, Thohra said. From context, Eris guessed that _katta_ meant “kill”.

“Voon moor terrot?” he asked.

“Fethuit zaukameth”, she said. “Vet zaukameth.”

“Hemoo, trompekat!” Veifas said.

“Veit hairtemorameth”, Eris promised. “Veit hairte troppameth.”

“Fethuhai trouzameth”, Thohra stated.

Eris shrugged. The conversation wasn't giving him much new grammar. He knew the future -mor-, the past -rak-, the negation of -eth, and when to use the partitive and when to use the accusative for the object of the sentence. He hoped to get something on the locative cases.

“Veifaso, voin muirsaa tozhan?” Eris asked.

Veifas squinted at him. “Muirsausta?” she asked.

“Muirsausta”, Eris agreed.

Veifas arranged the bone knives she'd been examining into an enclosed ring. “Ziku.” She mimed walking out of the ring with her fingers. “Feren zighusta muirsaa.” She mimed walking into the ring. “Feren zikkuus muirsaa.” She mimed walking in place. “Feren zighussa ruha.”

Eris eagerly wrote it all down and smiled goopily at Veifas. She ruffled his hair.

After a moment's thought, she indicated at a sleeping mat. She sat on it. “Krafara run.” She rose. “Krafarta theuzen.” She sat down. “Kraffaar vissun.”

Eris made excited tangrisha noises.

Veifas chuckled. “Fuikos rut, Ferenkavo.”

* * *

  


Eris did learn much of the language of the Nazhmorhathveras. He stayed as a slave of Veifas, Thohra, and Kraith for some years before Thohra kicked him out for being annoying and elven. He settled into the rhythm of the rest of his life: summers spent on the steppes, winters spent lecturing at the University.


	3. Fethu thoukkaa.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eris writes a letter to Marquess Lanthevel.

Marquess Lanthevel:

I have now spent half a year amongst the Sau tribe of the Nazhmorhathveras. Their language is similar to that of the Ethuveraz in structure, but has retained all of the grammatical cases that are still attested in the Northern and Western dialects, and seems to have many not found in those dialects.

The language, which I shall call Rodra (“tongue, language”) henceforth, has some sounds not found in Ethuverazin:

m n  
p t d k  
f th s z zh h  
v dh gh  
r

Note the lack of b, g, sh, and l. H will occasionally be pronounced as kh. Dh is like a weaker, voiced form of th, and gh is like a weaker, voiced form of kh. I have only found them as weakened versions of t and k respectively.

The vowel system has all of Ethuverazin's vowels – i e a o u ai ei – with the addition of oi ui eu ou au.

Rodreise words are less consonant-heavy than Ethuveraise ones. Initially, only single consonants or the clusters pr tr dr kr are permitted. Syllables may only begin with a single consonant if non-initial, and end in the coronal consonants n t d th s z zh r, which restricts medial clusters to those beginning with a coronal consonant. The sole exceptions are the geminate plosives pp kk. Only the vowels i e a o u may end a word. Words and names are not gendered; it is perfectly possible to have men with names that end in -o and women with names that end in -a, and the third person pronouns do not depend on gender.

Rodra has an extensive system of cases. Where Ethuverazin generally uses pre- and postpositions, Rodra uses cases. Here is a list of what I have observed so far, with the word “kaire”, star. The vowel u is used to signify dual items, and i is used for the plural.

 

 

| 

Singular

| 

Dual

| 

Plural  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
Nominative

| 

kaire

| 

kaireu

| 

kairei  
  
Accusative

| 

kaireha

| 

kairehau

| 

kairehai  
  
Genitive

| 

kairen

| 

kaireun

| 

kairein  
  
Excessive (from-state)

| 

kairenta

| 

kaireunta

| 

kaireinta  
  
Essive (as-state)

| 

kairena

| 

kaireuna

| 

kaireina  
  
Translative (to-state)

| 

kaireen*

| 

kaireuhun

| 

kaireihin  
  
Elative (from-interior)

| 

kairesta

| 

kaireusta

| 

kaireista  
  
Inessive (in-interior)

| 

kairessa

| 

kaireussa

| 

kaireissa  
  
Illative (to-interiorr)

| 

kairees*

| 

kaireuhus

| 

kaireihis  
  
Ablative (from-near)

| 

kairerta

| 

kaireurta

| 

kaireirta  
  
Adessive (at-near)

| 

kairera

| 

kaireura

| 

kaireira  
  
Allative (to-near)

| 

kaireer*

| 

kaireuhur

| 

kaireihir  
  
Prolative (via)

| 

kairetse  
  
Egressive (beginning of)

| 

kaireis  
  
Terminative (end of)

| 

kaireith  
  
Temporal (time)

| 

kairekor  
  
Comitative (with)

| 

kairekan

| 

kaireukan

| 

kaireikan  
  
Abessive (without)

| 

kairetta

| 

kaireutta

| 

kaireitta  
  
Partitive (amounts, counting)

| 

kairet

| 

kaireut

| 

kaireit  
  
Vocative

| 

kairevo

| 

kairevou

| 

kairevoi  
  
* these cases are formed by lengthening the final vowel and affixing on the consonant.

Confusingly, when counting things, one uses the singular partitive, rather than the dual or plural nominative. For example, “two stars” would be _reiza kairet_.

 

Of note is what I have tentatively named consonant gradation. Some consonants and consonant clusters change their form with the grammatic case if the final syllable is closed (ends with a single vowel and then a consonant) or long (has a long vowel (eg _aa_ ) or a diphthong).

Here are the patterns I have ascertained so far:

Closed syllable weakening: (Nominative → Genitive)

_pp tt kk → p t k_  
soippe → soipen (“grass”)  
motte → moten (a small quantity; perhaps a unit of measurement?)  
koukka → koukan (“child”)

 _p t k → v dh gh_  
keipa → keivan (“tea”)  
rauta → raudhan (“iron”)  
foiko → foighon (“anger”)

 _Cp Ct Ck → CC_  
fuspa → fussan (an expletive related to excrement)  
zhanta → zhannan (“slush”)  
sarka → sarran (“horse”)

 _Cd → Cdh_  
vaunda → vaundhan (“shrub”)

Long syllable strengthening: (Nominative → Egressive)

_p t k → pp tt kk_  
hepe → heppeis (“food”)  
huta → huttais (“forgiveness”)  
sake → sakkeis (“weather, air”

 _f th s h → ff thh ss hh_  
veifa → veiffais (“blood”)  
fethu → fethhuis (“elf”)  
hisa → hissais (“father”)  
kiha → kihhais (“foal”)

 _r → rr_  
vera → verrais (“person”)  
m n → mm nn  
hemo → hemmois (“mother”)  
ruina → ruinnais (“knife”)

 _d → t_  
raido → raitois (“warmth”)

 

There are some words that end in consonants in the Nominative – _nazh, kreis, morhath_ – and so far they seem to decline by removal of the final consonant and compensatory lengthening of the final nondiphthong vowel. Some cases that I have marked as beginning with a h- seem to forgo the h- and attach themselves to the consonant-containing root.

 

Verbs conjugate with both the subject (person or thing performing the action) and the object (the thing unto which the action is performed). The form of verbs is [root]+[“mood”]+[subject]+[object]+[negation] 

There are three things that I am calling “moods” in this context: future tense, past tense, and the imperative.

Mood

| 

Suffix  
  
---|---  
  
Future

| 

-mor-  
  
Past

| 

-rak-  
  
Imperative

| 

-kka-  
  
 

The subject suffixes:

 

| 

Singular

| 

Dual

| 

Plural  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
1

| 

-(a)n/-(a)m-

| 

-un/-um-

| 

-in/-im-  
  
2

| 

-(a)t

| 

-ut

| 

-it  
  
3

| 

-(h)a

| 

-(h)u

| 

-i  
  
 

The object suffixes:

 

| 

Singular

| 

Dual

| 

Plural  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
1

| 

-(a)th

| 

-uth

| 

-ith  
  
2

| 

-(a)s

| 

-us

| 

-is  
  
 

Negation is achieved by adding -(e)th to the end of the verb.

 

The sounds in brackets are added if the resulting word would otherwise break phonological rules. For example, _kannar_ (“to sleep”) in the first person singular would be _*kannarn_ , which ends in two consonants and is thus disallowed. The form used is _kannaran_.

For the first person subject forms, the first form is used if there is no following object suffix. If there is an object suffix, the _-m-_ forms are used.

Interrogation is done by fronting the verb and suffixing -ti to the end. 

**Examples:**

_draromoramis_ (occ. _draromormis_ ) “I will see you (pl)” _draro-mor-(a)m-is_  
_dukuraku_ “they (du) ran” _duku-rak-u_  
_mappuraghin_ “we (pl) ate” _mappu-rak-in_  
_trouzamoratath_ (occ. _trouzamortath_ ) “thou wilt trust me” _trouza-mor-(a)t-ath_ _truharakatti?_ “askest thou?” _truha-rak-at-ti?_

Reflexives are achieved by having the subject and object be the same:

_draromath_ “I see myself”  _draro-m-ath_

_Drannu Drannuha truharaka_ “Drannu asked herself”

 

**Pronouns**

Personal:

 

| 

Singular

| 

Dual

| 

Plural  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
1

| 

mo

| 

mou

| 

moi  
  
2

| 

ve

| 

veu

| 

vei  
  
3

| 

zha

| 

zhau

| 

zhai  
  
 

Demonstrative:

 

| 

Singular

| 

Dual

| 

Plural  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
Proximal

| 

zoma

| 

zomu

| 

zomi  
  
Medial

| 

zhuna

| 

zhunu

| 

zhuni  
  
Distal

| 

fath

| 

futh

| 

fith  
  
Note the three-way split into this, that-next-to-thee, and that-further-away.

 **Examples:**  
_Zha zeustumora, fath reffas ruha._ “S/he will learn,  [that] it is heavy.”  
_Zomi veuhur rui._ “These are for the two of you.”

 **Possession**  
While it is possible to form the Genitives of the first and second person pronouns, in practice possession is indicated with suffixes:

 

| 

Singular

| 

Dual

| 

Plural  
  
---|---|---|---  
  
1

| 

-ma

| 

-mu

| 

-mi  
  
2

| 

-ta

| 

-tu

| 

-ti  
  
 

 

**Anthropology**

The Nazhmorhathveras are herders. Their clan structure is matrilinear, with young men going away from their birth-clan sometime in their late teens, with a horse and some cheese. They attempt to join clans by marrying a woman of the clan.

At birth, each Veras is given a true-name, known only to them, their mother, and the clan's witch. They believe that stating the true-name of a person, animal, or thing will give the stater power over the one whose name has been stated, so they were very reluctant to share their true-names with me. Their mythology does have a warning example in Danso Verraasta Hai, a man who shouts out his true-name to a woman he seeks to marry, and is consequently bound to the service of all present. He is a folkloric minor deity of secrets and love. His true-name is common knowledge: _Dreirenkrotaatroppaumarokrathdussaumaruha_ – roughly, “Dreir's divine approval is my want and what I try for”. I asked clan Sou's witch, and apparently true-names are similar to Danso's in that they are oft full sentences, and always long.

Children are thus called with what are termed child-names; short names, often meaning “child”, or a diminutive of the mother's use-name. For example, Veifas' young child is called “Veifen”.

When children reach puberty, they choose a use-name they will go under for the rest of their lives. These are common vocabulary words, and can be nouns or adjectives.

A Veras' full name is the use-name, followed by the mother's use-name in the Elative case and then the clan's name in the Partitive. For witches, the full name is the use-name and the clan's name in the Genitive. Men who marry into a clan place their birth-clan's name in the Excessive and their clan-by-marriage's name in the Translative.

**Examples:**  
[woman] Veifas Thohrasta Sout, daughter of Thohra Zokusta Sout, daughter of Zokku Mendhasta Sout  
[married man] Kraith Pruighasta Hointa Souhun, originally of clan Hoi, now of clan Sou  
[witch]  Retkaire Soun

On the physical side, the Veras have blue-tinged white skin, midnight blue hair, and slightly metallic eye colors: blue, bronze, copper, and purple. Their witches are albinos with elven white hair, red eyes, and pink-tinged white skin. The Veras' ears are on average slightly narrower and more upwards-pointing than those of elves, and they are taller and more muscled.

 

 _As a guest of Clan Sou_  
on the steppes in late autumn  
Eris Akheda


End file.
